Page:Ranjit Singh (Griffin).djvu/129

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HIS COURT
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brother Zu-l-fakár Khán, sons of the stout old chief Muzaffar Khán, who had died sword in hand, with five of his sons and a large number of his clan, defending the breach when Ranjít assaulted and captured the fortress and city. No victory of the Mahárájá had been more fiercely disputed or so hardly won as this; and when his power was securely established over the Múltán province, he had the generosity to treat the sons of his vanquished enemy with kindness and consideration. He brought them to Lahore and settled pensions upon them, which were continued to their representatives by the British Government.

Another of the conquered Muhammadan chiefs who figured in Ranjít Singh's train at Lahore was Khudá Yár Khán, the Tiwána chief who, with his cousins, was brought to Lahore in command of fifty Tiwána horse, the boldest riders and the most picturesque looking men to be found anywhere in the Punjab. The Tiwánas have always been famous for their gallant bearing, and under English officers have done splendid service.

One of the most conspicuous figures at the Mahárájá's Court was Jamadár Khushhál Singh. He was the son of a Bráhman shopkeeper in the Meerut district. At the age of seventeen he came to Lahore to seek his fortune and was taken into the Dhonkal Singhwala Regiment, then newly raised, on five rupees a month. He soon made friends with the Mahárájá's chamberlains, and was placed on the per-